Emmanuel Omoyimni rescued a vital point for West Ham with his first ever goals for the club in a six-goal thriller at Selhurst Park.

West Ham's European hopes appeared to be in tatters just two minutes from time after goals from Marcus Bent, Simon Rodger and Attilio Lombardo.

But substitute Omoyimni produced two clinical pieces of finishing to salvage a game that West Ham should have won.

Harry Redknapp's side can still qualify for a UEFA Cup place but they now need a win over Leicester in the last game of the season and rely on results going their way.

A changed West Ham line-up grabbed the lead within four minutes. Berkovic and Lampard sliced the home defence wide open with a neat 1-2 and as Lampard raced through on goal, Curcic made a last-ditch sliding challenge only to see his touch take the ball past his own goalkeeper and into the empty net.

Indeed, only West Ham's profligacy in front of goal gave Palace any breathing space and matters were made worse for the home side when Valerien Ismael was stretchered off with a serious leg injury to be replaced by Jamie Smith.

It seemed to galvanise them and Neil Shipperley went close with a clever header from Dean Gordon's cross before Bent struck against the run of play to score his fourth goal in five games.

There appeared little danger when he picked up Lombardo's ball 25 yards out after 43 minutes but he advanced five yards before spotting Lama off his line.

The French goalkeeper back-pedalled quickly and got his right hand to the ball but could not prevent it crossing the line.

The momentum appeared to have swung to Palace and they caught West Ham cold just two minutes after the interval.

Curcic's corner was only partially cleared and fell to Simon Rodger on the edge of the area, who hit a first-time left foot volley through a crowded area past Lama.

Palace, the bit between their teeth, then stretched the advantage when Lombardo raced on to Gordon's through ball and slid a left foot shot past Lama to make it 3-1 after 63 minutes.

But West Ham clearly knew the importance of the game and reduced the deficit just four minutes later.

Sinclair was going nowhere despite some neat tricks on the edge of the area but as the defence stood off he fed substitute Emmanuel Omoyimni who slotted his first goal for the club into the far corner.

Then in the final minute of normal time, Lomas pulled the ball back from the byline and Omoyimni had time to gather himself before finding the far corner again past Miller.

Crystal Palace: Miller, Edworthy, Gordon, Curcic (Fullarton 76), Lombardo, Warhurst, Shipperley, Rodger, Bent, Ismael (Smith 34), Hreidarsson. Subs Not Used: Nash, McKenzie, Folan. Goals: Bent 44, Rodger 48, Lombardo 63.

West Ham United: Lama, Unsworth, Sinclair, Kitson, Lomas, Lazaridis, Lampard, Pearce, Impey, Abou (Omoyimni 59), Berkovic. Subs Not Used: Forrest, Mean, Berthe, Coyne. Sent Off: Unsworth (88). Booked: Abou, Lomas, Lampard, Unsworth. Goals: Curcic 4 og, Omoyimni 68, 89.

Referee: G Poll (Tring).